Dindo doesn’t mind the long break

By: Gerry Ramos
People's Journal
September 22, 2007

It doesn’t matter whether his University of the East Warriors remain idle for the next two or three weeks prior to the UAAP men’s basketball finals.

Coach Dindo Pumaren swears his team, hungry for a championship in the last 21 years, is battle-ready and raring to go.

“Kahit sa isang taon pa kami maglaro, handa naman kami,” he said as the Warriors await who their opponent will be in their first finals appearance since 1990.

The Recto-based-school advanced outright into the best-of-three title series last Sept. 13 when they completed an amazing 14-game sweep of the eliminations after a 92-84 overtime win over the La Salle Green Archers.

They won’t know which team they will be facing for the championship of the league’s 70th season as defending champion Santo Tomas, Ateneo and De La Salle will be disputing the other finals berth in the coming week.

The Tigers and Blue Eagles battle in a playoff tomorrow for the right to meet the Green Archers for the last finals slot. For clinching the no. 2 spot at the end of the eliminations, the Archers enjoy a twice-to-beat edge over the winner of the the Eagles-Tigers encounter.

At the latest, the title series won’t start until Sept. 30, leaving the Warriors inactive for more than two weeks.

Pumaren doesn’t mind the long layoff.

“Siguro naman mas maganda na `yung ganitong naghihintay ka na sa finals kaysa du’n sa nakikipag-bugbugan ka pa,” stressed the youngest of the three coaching Pumaren brothers.

He doesn’t mind either which team the Warriors will be meeting in the championship series, although Pumaren said it would be illogical if he’d not prefer to take on the team that came right from the bottom of the stepladder phase.

“Siyempre mas gusto mo `yung team na galing sa ibaba dahil alam mo bugbog na sila, by the time na magharap kayo sa finals,” said the former La Salle star pointguard.

Being in the finals first also has its advantages and disadvantages, according to Pumaren.

“Maganda `yung nasa finals na agad `yung team dahil makakapag-pahinga pa muna kayo. Pero ang tendency nun, magre-relax `yung team, kaya pagdating sa finals medyo rusty kayo.

“Ang mahirap naman sa nasa ibaba ka, bugbog na bugbog ka na pagdating ng finals. Ang kagandahan nga lang nun minsan, `yung team nakukuha ang rhythm kaya minsan nagtutuluy-tuloy hanggang championship,” he said.

The four-year UE coach said reclaiming the championship the Warriors last won in 1985 behind a team backstopped by cage legends Allan Caidic and Jerry Codiñera, serve as their major motivation while in the midst of a long waiting game for a finals opponent.

“I’ve repeatedly told my players na halfway pa lang kami sa objective namin. `Yung sweep ng eliminations bonus na lang `yun. What’s important is for us to win the championship. This won’t be nothing (14-game sweep) if we won’t win the title,” said Pumaren.

UE became the first team to achieve a rare elimination round sweep after University of Santo Tomas 14 years ago. But unlike the Warriors, the Tigers won the championship outright in 1993, the year prior to the introduction of the UAAP Final Four.

And that’s where the pressure comes for Pumaren and the rest of the Warriors, currently tied with the Tigers as the second winningest basketball team in league history with 18 titles.

“Merong pressure definitely,” said Pumaren. “Ang expectations kasi ngayon sa amin lalong mas mataas. But we’re up to the challenge. Nasa finals na kami and just a step away from achieving our goal and that is to win the championship.”